Feds: $18.5M to help fund Syracuse rail upgrades

ALBANY — Federal officials say they’re giving the state $18.5 million to reduce delays and improve service on the railroad in Syracuse.

The U.S. Department of Transportation says the money will be used to cut passenger and freight train congestion on Amtrak’s Empire Corridor at the Syracuse station.

The state transportation department will oversee a project that will reconfigure and replace tracks and upgrade the signal system.

The work will include upgrades to sidings trains use to get to the station and nearby freight yard. That will allow trains to go faster than the current 30 mph limit. The state will invest $4.6 million to the project, which is set to begin in 2015.